The best way to be FREE of clutter…

Organization, that is one of my thing. I love it. I love simplicity, organized and clean rooms, love the concept everything has it’s place, and a place for everything.

Lately, I have decided to put a little more emphasis on organization, as we have decided to challenge ourselves to get rid of about 30% of our belonging this year, wheter it is by using, giving, selling, recycling or throwing it away of really it is necessary.

So here was the task at hand: Getting rid of the dresser in Pumpkin’s room.

But in order to do that, we had to recuperate his “closet” (since that room is meant to be an office, there are no closets in there) that was on loan in his big brother’s room until we finally fixed HIS closet. Yeah, some kind of a musical chair game.

While I was emptying the dresser, I was amazed at how much stuff it contained! But what I was most amazed of was how much unnecessary things were hiding in there (hidden from my radar lol)

So I managed to create some more space in Pumkin’s bedroom, and clear out the things that didn’t really matter anymore/ fit/ were useful, and to really keep what we need.

The result:

I love it. Organized. simple. This is all Pumkin has. (aside from a few toys in his shelves) And quite frankly, it is more then enough. Somebody would have showed me this picture after having my first child and told me that this is the only things that I would need/ my 3rd child would own, and I would have laugh. Amazing how the path of motherhood changes one’s life!

and on the 3rd one, we have socks in the recycled basket, and a pile of clothes that we use when we go play outside (It is very cold here, so we need special clothing to go out…)

easy to clean, easy to spot what is needed. I am super happy with the result. I have been nagging DH for a while to help do this, and he was always stalling me for some excuse. Now that it is finally done, and after seeing the result, he reluctantly agreed that I had a very good idea going this (after trying to take the credit for it…got to love him!)

I also love how it cleared a large wall on the opposite side of the bed. The rocking chair is currently there, and I was able to find a spot to hang some wallart at his level..finally!:

I used Micheal Olaf’s frame. It can hold up to 10 cards stacked together, and so it makes changing the art a breeze. I choose Van Gogh’s art cards, and rotate them every once in a while. Since the frame has no glass over it, it is safe to be touched by little fingers.

As much as I love organizational objects, I think sometimes it gets in the way of simplifiying. I always tought I would die and go to heaven in a place like the container store. And although I love so many ideas and products they have in their store, I am starting to see it as clutter that holds clutter. It sure helps to organize, but it doesn’t help getting rid of it and keeping the essentials. I think it HIDEs clutter. I like an organized space, but I much rather a space that contains only what I love / need.

Now I have to find a way to camouflage the red potty. It used to fit very well in my DD’s room, but against this blue wall, it does clash quite a bit. Any ideas?

Furniture: Ikea: Trofast line

Diapers: green mountain organic prefolds (LOVE them)

Covers: AMP AI2 covers

Slippers: Padraigs slippers and a pair from Norway brought from a trip (the red ones)

I love it too. I have enormous cupboards in my boy's room that hide all manner of excess. I am thinking of setting up a child size wardrobe like you have here for the exact same purpose of cutting down on clutter. My baby was gifted the most enormous amount of second hand and new clothes for his first year, but now that he is into size 1 I hope to have far fewer clothes. Although perhaps a few more than you have here.I have checked the Ikea websites in Australia and the US and can't see anything in the trofast line that looks like quite like the red drawers you show in your Evolution of a room post. Were they from Ikea? I can see the frame and shelves, and I'm assuming you omitted the rails on one side and hung a rod. Was that also from Ikea?

THanks ladiesLouise, the entire Trofast module came from Ikea. (drawers and rod included) But I know that this year, they have stopped selling some part of the trofast line to go towards a new line of kid friendly storage solution. (called stuva I believe). SO the drawers are not available anymore. Check into the stuva line. I am pretty sure you will be able to find an equivalent to what I have.As for downsizing, we thought it really help to do so. He ended up using about 20% of what he had. So that is all we kept, and it really make dressing up easier, and cleaning clutter a breezeGood luck! 🙂

Thanks so much for the info. I will check out Stuva. They are also phasing out the modular system we are using in our garage, much to my dismay. No more popping down to Ikea for new bits when we move into a new place and want extra shelves or shorter/taller braces. However, we shall survive! (I feel a bit ashamed of my #firstworldproblems.)The males in this family have an enormous amount of clothes and wear all of them. We are a family that get dirty, and we are also a family of six where the washing can get significantly behind! I have sorted out a smaller number of clothes for Roo (about double what you have here) and plan to wash his wardrobe the same way I do my own small wardrobe. My own clothes get washed, dried, folded and put away regularly because I have very few clothes, so they are easy to do and I am highly motivated to get them ready to wear again. I'm hoping this will work for him also.

I'm very disappointed, after having a look at the stuva line on the internet, to see that there are no toddler size combinations available. The frames go from 60cm (very low) to 120cm (too high for a toddler). They look attractive though. I'm hoping that once I go into the store I will see a way to make them work. Either that, or back to the drawing board for a different solution!

Louise AllanaIndeed, it is quite a disappointment! The Trofast module was so well built in that regard that it is a shame they have not kept it going.One thing that is good though is that Ikea material is usually very easy to modify. Maybe you could take the higher frame, and put the rod a little lower and add a shelve on top for things to be out of rotation? THe height of my trofast module is 80 cm. E can reach at the rod without any trouble, and my 4 yo dresses were still fitting (albeit tightly on the lenght) in the frame. So it does work for a while, and longer for boys clothing. But I would have love to have a shelve on top of the rod for a basket or 2.As far as clothing quantity, we have more then what was shown here now that E is older. But I keep most of his clothing in the drawers, and only left out 2 outfits on the hangers, so when he is able to choose, he gets to choose only between 2 sets. (and when he decides to get them off the hangers, it is not too long to hang back! 🙂 )Keep me posted on how you finally manage to organize Roo's clothing area!Good luck!

Hi Neptune,I spent a bit of time at Ikea last night, as a new one has opened near us. The Stuva are stylish in looks but I can't bring myself to buy them. They are made from particle board, which means they won't last, and they cost more than I am willing to spend for something that won't last.The unavailability of the old trofast wardrobe might be a blessing in disguise, though, as my Dad has agreed to build Roo a wardrobe! He is quite handy and the design is very simple. I will enjoy having something made by my Dad in my baby's life, as my Dad used to restore, modify and sometimes build furniture for our house when I was a child.Since he is able to customise the unit, I am going to ask him to make it wider. I am not sure if I should add the extra width to the hanging side or the shelves. What you say about keeping the clothes in drawers and only leave a choice of two out sounds good, in which case perhaps I should ask for more width on the shelves side. However this will have to last him for four years or so, in which case I will later want to hang more of the clothes so he can participate in caring for them more easily. Hard decision.

Oh, that is such a good new Louise Allana! There is nothing best then handmade thing IMHO!Personally, I would go wider for the shelf side. For a girl, I would be torn because of dresses (I am talking in the long run here, once the child can choose how to dress herself independently) but for a boy, I feel there is not as much to hang (well, at least, here since we rather fold). At 3-4 yo, my children were able to choose their own clothes (whether hung of folded in the drawers) and were also able to fold or hang their clothes away after they have been washed. So the time of leaving only a couple of kits out hanging last maybe a year, and through out, I get then to choose from more then 2 outfits, to get them used into choosing. Also if you feel like having more space in the hanging side, and have a spare closet to put a rotation of clothes that don't fit in the folded side, that could also be an option. (one that we didn't have here, but if I had a space closet, I would have put the extra clothes in there.) So I think the question *you* need yo ask yourself is this: do you rather hang clothes or fold them in the long run? If you rather have clothes folded, have this side wider, if you are more of a hanging type of person, get this side wider and for the year or so you'll be leaving out only a couple of choices, find a temporary solution to pack the extra clothes that don't fit in the folding side.I hope that helps. And thank you for getting me up to date. I hope you'll post about this once you have manage to set it up for Roo. Don't hesitate if you have other question or need other information!